This is my hearty winter version of Green Chile Stew with an ample amount of green chile, meat & potatoes. I even added some zucchini so I wouldn’t feel guilty about not having enough vegetables in this one pot meal.
Click on the caption in the photo above for full recipe.
Most New Mexicans have bags of peeled green chile in their freezers from the end of summer chile harvest. Fresh Green Chile starts showing up in the local grocery stores towards the end of August, by the case, the heat ranges from mild to extra hot. I always get a case of medium & a case of hot, you pay for it in the store and take it outside to get in line for the roaster. There is a true art to roasting chiles, the roaster will spray water on them as they rotate in the cage as the flame blisters the chiles turning their skin black until it‘s ready to slip off the chile easily. If they’re not roasted enough, the skin won’t peel off. If they’re roasted too much, you end up with shreds of chile. Once you’ve waited in line & your chiles are roasted, they put them in a plastic bag, tie it up, put them back in your box & you load them in your car and get to breath in their aroma all the way home while they steam. The smell of roasted New Mexico Green Chiles is one of my favorite smells in the world!
I can only fit two cases of green chile in our freezer, unfortunately that is not enough to last us until next season but it will get us through the winter. Our solar powered home provides us all the modern comforts we need, just not quite enough power to run an extra freezer. If I had the extra freezer space, I’d probably get four to six cases of chile every year.
If you’re not a New Mexican with a freezer full of green chile, you might be able to find it in stores in the freezer section. I prefer “Young Guns” brand frozen green chile from Hatch, New Mexico. I’ve even used jarred green chile from Santa Fe Olé in a pinch.
Because Green Chile is high in vitamin C, it’s a great winter soup. It’s the best warm up after a big ski day in the snow. We swear by it for curing the chills of a winter’s day and keeping the colds away.
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